Basket for growing plants.



H. M. UAHILL, BASKET FOR GROWING PLANTS.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 13, 1908.

Patented June 13, 1911;

ran STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HELEN M. CAHILL, OF OREGON CITY, OREGON.

I BASKET FOR GROWING PLANTS.

esasie;

Specification of Letters Patent. P t ted J 11119 13, 1911.

Application filed October 13, 1908. Serial No. 457,565.

To all it may concern: I

Be it known that I, HELENM- CAHILL, a

citizenof the United States, residing near otherwise secured together.

branches 6? of the upper hoop are brought "other growing plants; 'andwhich is built in the greater art of material furnishing nutriment to te plant put therein, and which is stimulating to the growth thereof.

Incidentally, my invention also has for its object to obtain a basket,for the purpose 'mention'ed, which shall give esthetic effects by beingitself built of growing plants.

I attain my object by making the body of my basket of salal or othersuitable, growing vine, twined and secured to a skeleton frame of morerigid material, and filling in the spaces with sheets of growing moss,

secured in place and arranged as hereinafter fully described. 7

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a partial elevation, in perspective, of abasket built so 2 is a detail of construction of such basket,

by,me for carrying out my invention; Fig.

on larger scale; and Fig.3 shows an inverted bottom view of my basket.

In order to fully instruct others in the utilities of my invention, Iwill describe the.

same as applied to its different purposes. In the first place, I willdescribe the construction of my basket to make the same serviceable inthe transplanting of native forestry,

domestic shrubs, plants, etc.

The upper and lower ringsor hoops a and b arepreferably formed of piecesof salal vine with itsv roots, the ends being-tied or The lateral downand secured to the lower hoop, while the lateral branches a from thelower hoop are carried up to and secured to the upper hoop.

Suitably spaced apart sticks c, d and a of limbs of a green tree or bushare interposed between the hoops a and b, the ends of the sticks beingformed with V-shaped notches a in which said hoops are snugly seated.

The sticks are tied to the hoopsby wire, m--

dicated at j in order to form the whole into a substantial frame. To h\rizontally reinforce the frame, bands f, g, and 72. preferably made ofburlap, are wound around the sticks, looped around the lateral branches,and secured in any suitable manner. The roots of the vines of the bottomhoop a are extended across the latter, and secured as shown in Fig. j 3.To these extended branches are secured strips of moss indicated at m. Tofurther reinforce the bottom, bands 71 and 2" preferably burlap, extendacross the bottom and are secured to the hoop a.

Secured to the outer surface of the frame described, is a layer of mossn, so arranged that the root surface is on the inside next to thelateral branches a and b. To further hold this layer ofmoss in place,and to make the structure more stable, the vertically arranged branchesof the vines are drawn outwardly through the said moss. 1

The moss-walls of the basket, because of possessing the property ofretaining moisture, promote the growth of the tree; and when the rootsof the tree have extended to 'the moss wall, they may penetrate it without hindrance into the surrounding soil in which the basket and tree areplanted.

In the process for transplanting, I dig up large salal shrubs, or anyother nice flowering shrub, with enough dirt around the roots for thefirst years growth. I dig .up these.

shrubs in their dormant state. Snow-drop shrubs are also very beautifulfor these purposes. I also plant snow-drop, salal, or other vines,through the sides of the basket, withthe roots inside the latter. I thenset the basket down by the running brook in the shade for at least threeor four months,

when the soil is soft, so that the soil and moisture will work-upthrough the bottom of the basket, to facilitate which open places shouldbe left in the bottom of the basket.

This basket is well adapted to the transplanting of dormant shrubbery,such as rose .bushes, snowballs or ornamental shrubs,

Easter lilies, tulips, etc. My basket is well adapted for transplantingnative trees and forest bulbs, etc., also as a growing moss basket, fortransplanting native shrubs.

and bottom hoops made My'basket is also splendidly suited to be used asa hanging basket. lVhen so used. the growing vines and moss of thebasket greatly enhance the appearance of the same as a whole; for it iscertainly much more pleasing to see the basket itself constructed ofgrowing material, than one made simply of dead wire frame. Furthermore,the moss will grow to and entwine, as it were, its rootlets around thevine used in making the frame of my basket, while in the use of a merewire frame such effect cannot be obtained. I

. The basket is strengthened, where required "for heavy work, by makinga stick with notched ends and arranging the same transversely in thebottom ring of my basket, said bottom ring bearing in the notches of thestick; and I tie the parts together with spool wire, passed from oneside to the other of the ring, so as to secure the same firmly in thenotches of said transverse stick. The upright frame members of thebasket should also be securely tied in place with wire." By so doing thestrength of the bas- The exterior.

ket is materially increased. envelop of moss also serves to protect thevine-branches, interwoven in the sides or walls of the basket, againstinjury.

Iclaim: p

1. A basket for transplanting plants, comprising a skeleton-frameconsisting of top from the stalks of growing shrubs having extendedroots and branches and perpendicularly arranged spacing-men'iber towhich the hoops are secured, an exterior sheeting of pieces of mossfastened to the frame structure, the roots and branches of the top andbottom hoops being intermeshed, and the exterior sheeting of moss beingarranged with its rootsurface inward.

2. A basket for transplanting plants, comprising a skeletonframeconsisting of top and bottom hoops made from the stalks of growingshrubs having extended roots and branches, and vertically arrangedspacingmembers to which the hoops are secured, bands of textile fabricarranged on said frame structure to reinforce the same, an. exteriorsheeting of pieces of moss fasten d to the frame structure, the rootsand branches of the hoops being intermeshed, and the exterior sheetingof moss being arranged with its root surface inward.

A basket for transplanting plants comprising a skeleton frame of plantstems with roots attached, walls made of growing moss, and reinforcingmembers arranged to give rigidity to the structure, the roots on thestems of the plants and the root surfaces of the moss-wall beingarranged inward.

HELEN M. CAHILL.

1V itnesses LETHA L. JACKSON, L. E. MILLER.

